@pavakah: Well, I respect CliffyB but I don't really know him that well. Sure, he's the creator of Gears of War and stuff but other than that, I don't think I can relate to him with anything. Maybe I'll put him in here once I get to know him better.

Excellent list all around, but I must begrudge Greg Kasavin being in place of Jeff Gerstmann. Although Greg was always the better writer (an English Major versus a high school drop-out), Gerstmann's fallout with GameSpot spoke volumes about gaming journalism.

@Siphillis: Sorry, I happen to be a huge fan of Greg Kasavin ever since the early days at GameSpot so...sorry no.

For me, Ben "Yahtzee" is just a funny guy and nothing more. He may put the giggles on everyone but for me personally, I don't quite like him and I don't consider him to be a true gaming personnel. All he does is talk dirty and funny and...that's it. Amusing but it gets old.

I'm not familiar with Tim but after learning that he was behind the Unreal Engine, I may have to reconsider.

@Psykhophear:Rich Gallup would also be a great addition. During his brief internship, he managed to jump-start high-production audio/video content on GameSpot, including Tournament TV, tightly edited video reviews, On the Spot, the HotSpot, a plethora of random videos, and brought out the personalities behind GameSpot's editorial team. He now works directly under retired Boston Red Sox pitcher, and alleged gaming addict, Curt Schilling at 38 Studios.

I have to say, when I tried to make a similar list a while back, I couldn't rightfully put anyone atop the list over Mr. Miyamoto, even Ralph Baer, as clichéd as it might sound. Baer did give rise to home entertainment, true, but some other engineer would likely have accomplished a similar feat in due time, and the industry would have foundered in 1983 despite his influence, without Miyamoto helming Nintendo.

Miyamoto has been at the forefront (if not the conductor) of nearly every major shift in game design: platforming, smooth side-scrolling, high score-less adventures with save states, 3D navigation, touch-controls, and motion controls. More importantly, his complete lack of programming knowledge gave rise to a generation of game designers who dedicated themselves strictly to ideas and concepts, and general supervision; before Miyamoto, it was common practice for a single programmer to handle art, sound, music, playtesting, and level design.

And lest we forget the Italian Plumber Mario, who boosted Nintendo's, and video games', status squarely into pop-culture, defeating the likes of even Mickey Mouse.